[Vision2020] conciliation

Fri Jul 13 21:41:35 PDT 2007

Tom,

  I don't now what names you know, but many of the ones that I see that donate to Shirley Ringo are linked to education either directly or one step removed. Jim Wallis, Susan Hovey, and the Idaho Education Committee are all contributors to her campaign. I don't personally think that 2006 was a good year to look at because her funding and contributions were very low in comparison to the years of 2002 and 2004 where she had more competitive elections. 2006 and 2000 were not good competitive elections for Ringo. The database for 2004 off the Secretary of State's list is down. That year Ringo over did fundraising because she lost in 2000 and didn't want it to happen again. She lost because there was huge backlash against Democrats in 2000 in Republican counties and states. 

  Best,

  Donovan

Tom Ivie <the_ivies3 at yahoo.com> wrote:
  Politics aside, what I remember from my Political Science courses, the only votes that require a 2/3 majority are a Constitutional Amendment and Veto override. Secondly, there is complete disclosure of campaign finance available at the Idaho Secretary of State website http://www.idsos.state.id.us/ELECT/Finance/2006/06_leg_dist_1_13.htm
>From there, go to Legislative Dist. 6 and you can see who gave to which candidates.  Having looked at those reports I can say that I didn't recognize many teachers.  I don't know who all of the teachers are but I only saw a couple of retired ones listed and one of those taught in Potlatch.

Donovan Arnold <donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:     I think if we want to see who is biased here we should ask Shirley Ringo and Suzy Hovey if they can think of anything the MSD has done wrong in the last ten years, and if so what?
  They cannot answer this question. 

  They were both Moscow High School teachers and in way capable of being unbiased. Not to mention that Representative Ringo gets much of her campaign funds from teachers, MSD administrators, and there supporters. She could not be publicly critical of MSD and still expect to get her campaign contributions. 

  The conciliation committee is headed by mostly unbiased people that want to see the students do well. I don't think that the current MSD administration can survive if we want to see an improvement in the quality of education and the success of students. I think this conciliation idea is a good idea for saving education, but a bad idea for the MSD administration because it demonstrates their inability to lead and make the best decisions for the students. They make decisions for what is best for themselves, not students. 

  MSD, specifically, puts extra money in the pockets of a few administrators, and selected teachers. It does not put money into vocational training, or into attracting new, quality teachers that are trained in the areas that we need the most, such as special education, science, and math. An untalented lazy teacher with a MA in History and 15 years of sitting on there ass is going to get paid more than a badly needed and gifted science teacher. This is wrong because it is the children that suffer. 

  MSD also was horribly dishonest with the public with the last levy to build a new high school. 

  MSD does not have the credibility with the public to run and win another election with a 2/3 vote. And that is the real reason why they resist the conciliation, and instead use smoke and mirrors by trying to get the public to concentrate on attacking Gerry Weitz personally and trying to blame him for their missteps and inappropriate actions for the last decade. 

  Best,

  Donovan

Shirley Ringo <ringoshirl at moscow.com> wrote:
                Visionaries:

  I endorse the specifics of Sue Hovey’s response to the conciliation petition.  The 1995 document Gerry Weitz waves around is from a deputy attorney general who was then serving in the State Department of Education.  It was not an official opinion of the attorney general.  In fact, it pointed to a need to clarify the law.  I wonder why nobody considered dealing with it then.  I believe Ann Fox was then State Superintendent of Public Instruction.  Did this deputy attorney general share his thoughts with her?  I have been in the legislature since 1999 (with the exception of 2001-2002).  Nobody mentioned any concerns to me about the indefinite levy law.  I would certainly have joined with others to take clarifying action.  I assume nobody raised the issue with Trail or Schroeder, either.

  I join others who are eager to see the lawsuit against the MSD settled as soon as possible.

  I also see some people of good will who have little understanding of the history of the issues and the history of the individuals involved.

  Conciliation?  Really?  Prior to Weitz filing the lawsuit, DeMeerleer delivered a letter to the Moscow District.  The gist of the letter was that if the District would invalidate the most recent levy and run it again, then there would be no lawsuit challenging permanent levies dating back fifteen years.  Essentially, the so-called “conciliation” asks the district to do just that.  Hmmm.  Perhaps I am having a slow day.

  Shirley Ringo

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